Lunch: The Whole Foods Strategy Session (Gameplan no. 1)

I can get in-and-out of Whole Foods‘ expansive by-the-pound buffets, prepared-food offerings and packaged to-go food section for less than $7 several ways. Here’s gameplan no. 1:

Part One: Ever noticed these petite little sandwiches hanging out in a couple of baskets underneath the triangle-cut, sandwich-bread, to-go sandwiches? So long as you select thoughtfully (e.g. avoid the tuna salad, which guarantees a soggy roll), these guys are a score at $2.99 ea.

My ham and Emmenthaler pick today included a thick piece of cheese (you can see it hanging over) and three large, round slices of ham folded in half to fit the bread, which was a sweet, fluffy roll that reminds me of a King’s Hawaiian Roll more than anything else.

I have to note that the sandwiches are assembled just right so as to best preserve the goods: The cheese is next to a dry bun, followed by the meat, and a few slices of tomato, which are protected from the bottom bun by lettuce leaves, which are, by comparison, much dryer. I appreciate that.

Part Two: A salad. Start with the smallest salad bar container available; fill about halfway with greens, drizzle with dressing.

Now, the fun part. Toppings. I generally go for a cheese, a protein, one of the grain-salad mixes and maybe something a little extra, but always opting for the small bits, the small grains, the thin-shaved vegetables.

Case-in-point: Mixed greens; lemony vinaigrette dressing; sliced red onion; cooked edamame; a quinoa salad; feta cheese; slivered almonds. Hell yeah.

Here’s what my bill looked like:

Sandwich … $2.99
Cold food bar (0.38 @ $7.99/lb) … $3.04
Lrg. bag 365 brand potato chips … $0.99

Total, pre-tax … $7.02

Lunch: Friday, April 17, 2009

Trick of the lunch trade: If you have to eat something boxed/canned/frozen, add something fresh. Plus, you’ll get in a serving of vegetables (good for you!).

Chunky guacamole and grilled chicken from Amici 36‘s huge sprawling hot-and-cold lunch buffet — the photo below is just one third of the offerings – made this Whole Foods “Whole Kitchen” bean and rice burrito taste, well, not authentically Mexican, but pretty delicious anyway.

And with the rest of the guac sort of coated the greens below, I didn’t even need salad dressing. Mmmm … avocado…

COST: >$5
PREP TIME: Stroll to Amici 36 and back, plus 2 minutes in the micro

Saturday, April 11, 2009

                                                                                                                            I am beginning to live for weekend posts because there’s less of them and, frankly, they’re just fun. 

The big (food) goal for today was to get prepped for tomorrow when I’m semi-spontaneously hosting soup and smeeps: Polish Easter Soup (an Easter tradition in my family) and Smeeps, a smores/peep hybrid a la toaster oven (that’s about to become a tradition. I can feel it.) One enormous, double-smoked kielbasa sausage from the Polish delicatessen above is boiling away for the soup base. 

But before I hit up Whole Foods on Bowery — going there hungry is a terrible idea — I detoured for what turned out to be an unexpectedly amazing meal at Thailand Cafe: The ambiance cozy, the food well seasoned and the beer good and cheap. For $21 pp the group of us split several appetizers, two pitchers of Stella, and each had our own entree. Fantastic. 

(That’s my Kee Mao, early-to-mid progress, at left.)

I was also on the lookout for pickling goods, and found this stray, unnamed, unpriced basket of what looked to be Kirby cucumbers … but I wasn’t about to buy 18-20 cucumbers at Whole Foods (also known as “Whole Paycheck” in certain circles) without knowing for sure either that they were the ones I needed or the price per pound. So the pickle project remains in pickle prep mode. 

Overall, as Ice Cube says, “Today was a good day.” 

COST: Who the hell knows
PREP TIME: Basically the whole day, between planning, procrastinating and execution.